The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

Heads’ rotation, CAS dominate PUTA meeting
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 21
The first general body meeting of the Panjab University Teachers Association (PUDA) was held today at the evening studies auditorium in PU. The house debated several sensitive issues concerning teachers. The most important item discussed was the rotation of heads. Several members were of the opinion that there was lurking threat to democratisation as they felt that the authorities were interfering with the working. The president, PUTA, Mr M.K. Ohja, however, stated that the threat was not from the authorities but from within the department.

The issue of Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) was also debated at length. The house was of the opinion that the implementation of CAS was not uniform. In certain cases the benefits to teachers promoted under CAS were given from the date of eligibility while in some it was from the date of interview and in some after the approval of the Senate. It was stressed that there should be uniformity and it should be from the date of eligibility.

The third issue discussed was regarding house allotment. It was observed that there was a lot of bungling in the matter of house allotment. The house demanded that a transparent procedure should be followed in this regard. It was suggested that a list should be prepared and the branch dealing with the allotment should be computerised. This should be available on the Internet. The house was also appraised of the progress of the pension scheme.

Kids of a happier God who speak through their eyes
Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service

The parents at the Sadhna Vocational Training Institute for the Mentally handicapped put some demands before Ms Rodrigues. The parents were enthused by the positive response of Ms Rodrigues to their demands. These included:
*Waiving off the rent of Rs 10,000 of the building housing their institute —This was accepted by the Administration, the parents said.
*Waiving off of a penalty for of Rs 1 lakh imposed by the Municipal Corporation for delayed rent payment — The request is being considered and the parents have been assured a favourable response.
*Construction of a home for the mentally challenged since none exists in the entire north: Ms Jean Rodrigues assured the parents that the demand would be looked into.

Chandigarh, September 21
Dishant can’t speak. Not a word. His eyes do the talking. Not only for him but also for the seven others in his class at the Sadhna Vocational Training Institute for the Mentally Handicapped, Mani Majra. They are a vivacious lot, keeping their teacher on her toes. And, if you forget to greet them, they don’t hesitate to tug at your shirt and wish you a cheerful “namaste” with folded hands.

They are all special children, not children of a lesser God but children of a happier God because the smiles never leave their faces, not even for a split second. Mentally challenged, some severely and others being borderline cases, their handicap certainly doesn’t stand in their way of brimming over with joy at the slightest opportunity.

Like Gurpratap Singh, the only one in the group who can mumble a few words. The presence of a guest invariably prompts him to shake a leg and lend his voice to “Tum paas aaye, yun muskuraye...”. There’s never a sad moment in “their” day house, buzzing and humming with activity. These children, all 30 of them, live life one family.

The visit of Ms Jean Rodrigues, wife of the UT Administrator and Punjab Governor, Lt Gen S.F. Rodrigues, to “their home” today was reason enough for them to be elated. Their excitement was palpable much before she arrived at the centre. It manifest itself in their eagerness to shake hands with her and button up their shirts in an attempt to show her they were self-reliant when she arrived and went around the classrooms.

After a round of the four classes where children are trained on the basis of their IQ, Ms Rodrigues was treated to a feast of songs and dances. Whether it was the melodious Tejaswini who sang like a canary or the nimble-toed Richa Singh who imitated Preity Zinta’s “Bhumbroo, bhumbroo...”, they bowled her over with their performance. And, like always, they made their parents proud of them.

The children wound up the show with a group song and even presented Ms Rodrigues with bags, candles and decorative earthen lamps made by them. Effusive in the praise of the children, Ms Rodrigues said that being at the institute had been a wonderful experience.

“If you only watch their performances, you can’t tell they are special children. They perform like professionals. We will see what we can do for them since that is the only way we can give back to society. They deserve all the attention, care and love we can give them,” she said.

Run entirely by the parents of mentally challenged children, the institute is the outcome of their desire to provide their children with a permanent school. “All schools with separate classes for our children keep them only for 10 years or so. Where do we take them after that? With this school at least we have ensured a routine for them and they can continue in this school till the time they want to,” a parent said.

While all these special children fight their way through life with extraordinary zest, these parents are the real heroes—-smiling though all the trying times, teaching their kids to enjoy life and just living in the present. No complaints, no iota of resentment. For them, the journey of life goes on. They have learnt to live one day at a time.

Dera Bassi dental college in thick of controversy
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 21
High drama and confusion prevailed at the National Dental College, Dera Bassi, till late at night after a controversy over counselling erupted between the management and parents of the candidates. A large number of parents and candidates protested in front of the college gate and even raised slogans against the management alleging that the college’s claim of filling up of all seats was false.

Talking to The Tribune, the parents of the candidates who appeared for the counseling for the 35 dental seats in the college, alleged that during the counselling no documents were checked and no fee was collected from the candidates.

“By afternoon the management announced that all the seats were filled and we were asked to leave,” informed Mr Rajesh Kapoor, a parent.

He added that though we were told that all the seats were filled no fee was collected from the selected candidates instead they were just issued a roll number slip and were asked to come the next day.

The parents, however, objected to this and the university representative present at the college assured them that the fee would be collected the same day and the candidates in the waiting list would then be adjusted according to the remaining vacant seats.

However, the parents complained that after waiting till 9.00 pm they were not informed about the remaining vacant seats instead the authorities informed them that the fee for the seats had been collected.

The parents also alleged that the college authorities misbehaved with them and refused to listen their requests.

Meanwhile, the authorities, on being questioned about the issue, denied all allegations and said that counselling was conducted fairly.

First batch of IT engineers gets jobs
Tribune News Service

Mohali, September 21
The first batch of information technology engineers of Sri Sukhmani Institute of Engineering and Technology, Dera Bassi, here has been selected by major IT companies in Chandigarh and Mohali.

According to Dr I.P. Singh, Principal, placements of students even before declaration of the results in companies such as the Sterling group of companies, Infosys Technologies, Dell, Coventine Corporation, IDS Infotech, Drish Infotech, the Army, Wipro Spectramind, Reliance Infocom, FCS Software, Radico Khaitan and GCS Computer Technologies, etc. shows the worth of students of the institute.

He added that this was the first batch with 100 per cent passout results in the final semester. Manpreet Singh scored 94.3 per cent marks. Another 17 students were in the bracket of 90 to 94 per cent.

LEISURE

Nuptial bonds unravelled through comedy
Gayatri Rajwade

Life portrayed in a lighter vein with dollops of situational, conversational and deliberately misconstrued dialogues between various characters jousting back and forth is what characterised ‘Mujhe Rang De’, staged today at Tagore Theatre, here.

A neatly attempted comedy that thrived largely on the performances of its lead actors Divya Dutta, whose portrayal and reactions of a typical Punjabi woman, Simi Malhotra, delighted audiences and Ayesha Jhulka who carried off her role as the Ganga, alias Garba, (wife of the man Simi is allegedly involved with), as a Gujarati with élan. Anant Mahadevan, in the role of a painter who comes into Simi’s home, worked as the perfect foil between the performances of the two women with his over-the-top exaggerated gestures and act. Representative accents, both, Divya’s Punjabi and Ayesha’s distinctive Gujarati manner and pitch sustained the performances.

The play pivots around a woman, Simi Malhotra, who is trying to put the pieces of her marriage back together. Snubbed by her husband’s caustic tongue, she forgets her own self somewhere along her marriage. When her husband leaves town telling her to put their home in order or else, she finds herself getting involved in one crisis after another.

She hires an artist, ‘PPP’ (Anant Mahadevan) to do the quick makeover job on her home. A struggling actor, PPP, stumbles onto Simi’s alleged affair with a certain Ram.

When Ram’s wife, Garba, enters the scene, bright sari, colourful carry-bags, tomato and all, utter mayhem takes over.

Funny in parts, slowing down particularly before the interval, the play picks up once again, post break, as all threads start coming together. The happy ending, albeit a little abrupt, rouses the viewer as Divya’s performance is near flawless. Matching her every move is a robust Ayesha Jhulka who seems to have come into her own on this live platform.

The tone is set at the very beginning when a poem, beseeching viewers to switch their phones off, is recited. The laughter starts right then and carries the play through.

The set is vibrant, carefully detailed with attention to small aspects like the air-conditioner fitted in the TV room and a painting showing off in just the right corner of the bedroom to the point till where the audience can see.

The music, composed specially for the play by Nikhil-Vinay, is filmy enough to identify with the Mumbai setting of the play. The use of theatrical sounds and characteristic audio tracks when the actors enter the stage makes for a delightful accompaniment to the comic structure of the play.

The pressure of urban marriages, the interplay between the three key characters and the obvious chemistry and camaraderie between Ayesha and Divya, evident even in at the press conference yesterday, comes off with great flair.

The crowd picked up the humour suitably and there were plenty of laughs going around. A tad too long perhaps, the play nonetheless, pulled off the comedy, difficult at most times, with vitality. TNS

Workshop on modelling

The IMS Academy of Fashion and Jewellery Design organised a one-day workshop in Chandigarh on Tuesday to identify prospective models to enrol into the Noida-based institute.

Auditions were conducted by style gurus of the industry, including, Mr Ajay Bisht, consulting fashion stylist with NDTV, Ramneek Pantal, a model, choreographer, news anchor and compere, Sunil Mann, model and Grasim Mr India 2004, and Rahul Dutta, a fashion photographer.

Introducing the course, Dr C.S. Nagal, Director Planning and Development of the IMS Educational Society, said this course in personal grooming and modelling was being introduced, “by looking at new vistas where the youth of the country could go.”

He reiterated that the institute would impart training in the fields of fashion, textile, jewellery and various aspects of personality grooming like media makeover, fashion styling and modelling.”

With 600 to 700 entries from Punjab, Haryana and the National Capital Region, only 50 lucky people will gain entry. At Rs 30,000 for the three-month course, inclusive of a portfolio, the course would deal with the basics of modelling.

Ajay Bisht, called it a “Scientific approach since there is a science behind fitness, posturing, walking, styling. Nothing is random,“ he insisted. Fashion is serious business, worked on and thought about deliberately,” he added.

Ramneek, who has had a long stint of eight years in the fashion Industry, says her training will largely be practical. “I am here to talk of the mistakes we used to make and how not to make them.”

While Sunil Mann spoke from the heart about the challenges small town boys and girls had to face with their lack of exposure in this industry. “People are waiting to exploit them. I am from a small village in Haryana so I know the problems these young people face. I have attached myself emotionally to this Institute because I believe in the talent we have in our country. Youngsters have a lot of potential but no confidence.”

For Rahul Dutta, “This is an ideal opportunity to look for fresh talent because I am working on different campaigns and am always on the lookout for fresh people and professional models.” Rahul will work on how to face the camera, poses and body language.

However, at the end of it all, they all agree it is not all about the face as it also is about personality and spark. TNS